Chapter 29: Returning to the County City
Li Lin did not want anyone to know that he possessed Shengxi Pills.
So he performed his actions very discreetly.
The moment the fat man saw that Xu Saifeng was dead, he immediately activated his white jade plaque and fled in a blaze of red light.
At the same time, he also took a soul-summoning banner with him.
The formation immediately collapsed.
Bai Bufan wanted to chase after him and recover the soul-summoning banner, but his uncle grabbed him and shook his head.
“Do not pursue a desperate enemy.”
He then looked at Li Lin and said gratefully,
“Many thanks for saving our lives, Patrol Hunter Li. The Bai family will remember this kindness and repay it generously.”
Li Lin waved his hand.
He was not pretending to be aloof.
Rather, hot and cold sensations were clashing throughout his body, making him feel extremely uncomfortable.
If he spoke, his voice would definitely be affected, allowing others to notice something unusual.
Pretending to be greedy for money, he bent down and searched Xu Saifeng’s body, finding quite a few silver notes.
He then went to the saddlebags of the horses and found several red command flags and soul-summoning banners.
After that, there was nothing else valuable.
What a pity!
It seemed not everyone had the habit of carrying secret manuals on their person.
By the time he finished all this, some time had passed.
Most of the coldness in his body had already been consumed, and he felt much better.
He should be able to speak now.
Li Lin looked at Bai Liwei and asked,
“Senior Bai, what should we do next?”
“Wait.”
Looking at the damaged formation with a gap in it, Bai Liwei said,
“The outside world is now the domain of the feral gui. Only by staying together and using our qi and blood to temporarily frighten away the gui can we have a chance of surviving.”
“We should also wait for the other colleagues to return.”
Then he looked at the three corpses lying nearby.
“What a pity for colleagues Wang Chao, Ma Si’en, and Yuan Li.”
Li Lin sighed as well.
Even before coming here, he had felt that this mission might be troublesome.
He had simply never imagined it would become this troublesome.
“Are your injuries serious?” Li Lin asked.
“Just flesh wounds.”
Bai Liwei laughed.
“I was bluffing them earlier.”
As expected of an old veteran...
Li Lin estimated that even if he had not suddenly appeared, Bai Liwei probably still had some trump card that would have allowed him to survive.
While the two chatted, faint footsteps came from outside.
The three turned their heads and saw a familiar figure running back.
“Wonderful, you’re actually still here. It wasn’t easy shaking off that damned persistent pursuer.”
The man was named Cai Wei, a middle-aged Spirit Hunter.
His leg techniques were extremely powerful, and he ran very quickly.
When he saw the corpses of Ma Si’en and the others, his expression shifted from joy to sorrow.
Then he saw Xu Saifeng’s corpse, and his expression became somewhat strange.
“White Tiger Turnover Hold?”
Li Lin nodded.
“Ruthless, truly ruthless.”
The man cupped his fists toward Li Lin.
“Brother Li, please never use that move on your fellow brothers in the future.”
In truth, anyone with some experience knew that the true killing move of the White Tiger Turnover Hold was not White Tiger Carries the Corpse.
It was White Tiger Pill-Shattering Strike.
It was just that very few people mastered the move, and even fewer were willing to practice it.
Before long, two more colleagues returned.
The white jade plaques on their waists were blazing with red light.
Had they not returned, they could have endured for at most another half a shichen.
After that, they would have become lost within the illusions of the feral gui, had their flesh drained away, and been reduced to white skeletons.
There were now six people.
The red light emitted by their white jade plaques gathered together, barely enough to resist the invisible feral gui outside, whose numbers were growing ever greater.
They waited for another half a shichen.
Then Bai Liwei said,
“The remaining people probably won’t be coming back. We need to leave now. If we delay any longer, even if the feral gui don’t gather here, the enemy might arrive. We should return directly to the county city. What comes next involves other officials. It’s not something six people can handle. Let the County Magistrate worry about it. What do you all think?”
Everyone naturally nodded in agreement.
At a time like this, returning alive was the most correct choice.
Not one of them wanted to remain in this cursed place for even a moment longer.
Bai Bufan asked,
“Should we collect the bodies of these three seniors?”
Bai Liwei shook his head.
“There’s no time. Let’s go.”
With that, the six mounted their horses and departed immediately.
For the rest of the journey, the six rested during the day and traveled at night.
There was no helping it.
They had become frightened birds at the mere twang of a bowstring.
During the daytime, they still dared to close their eyes and rest briefly.
But at night, they did not dare relax in the slightest.
Because even the combined qi and blood of all six people was insufficient to completely block the feral gui.
They urged their horses onward at full speed.
After two nights and one day, they finally returned to the county city.
The six were covered in dust and looked utterly exhausted.
When they saw the city gates, they finally felt the relief of having survived a calamity.
Half a shichen later, they sat in the rear courtyard of the county yamen.
Standing before them was the county official Huang Yan, pacing back and forth.
He appeared extremely agitated.
After listening to the report, his face darkened.
“Sixteen went, six returned. The military town has been destroyed. The Qin family of Yue City has become outrageously bold.”
No one responded.
Most Spirit Hunters did not understand the twists and turns of officialdom.
“You six have worked hard.”
Huang Yan let out a long sigh.
“I will report this matter to the imperial court. You should all return and rest.”
The Spirit Hunters all rose and departed.
No one spoke.
None of them had the energy for it.
At the entrance of the county yamen, Li Lin encountered Huang Qi.
After casually offering a cupped-fist salute, the other man said,
“Brother Kunge, tea and wine have already been prepared in the rear courtyard of my home. I’ve been waiting for you.”
“I’d like to go back and rest first...”
“This concerns the inside story behind your trip to Bobai Town. Don’t you want to hear it?”
Li Lin froze for a moment, then nodded in agreement.
They soon arrived at the rear courtyard of the Huang residence.
Apart from the two of them, nobody else was present.
Presumably Huang Qi had specifically arranged it this way.
“The truth is that by the third day after your departure, my father already knew the general situation.”
Li Lin narrowed his eyes slightly.
“That quickly?”
“Our Huang family still has some connections.”
Huang Qi sighed softly before continuing.
“How much do you know about the Qin family of Yue City?”
“Nothing at all.”
Huang Qi laughed.
He greatly appreciated Li Lin’s habit of saying what he knew and admitting what he did not.
Unlike certain people who pretended to understand things for the sake of saving face.
“The land around Yue City is fertile, with many rivers. Rice can be harvested three times a year. It is both the granary and a major commercial city of Great Qi. One year’s tax revenue from that city alone equals that of five major northern cities combined.”
Huang Qi sighed.
“When people become especially wealthy, they begin wanting power. Once they gain power, they start finding ways to store arms. In truth, many people already know that the Qin family of Yue City intends to rebel. After all, paper cannot wrap up a fire. But we never expected them to become this bold. Not only did they slaughter everyone in a military town, they even smashed the altar of the True Lord.”
“Doesn’t the imperial court deal with people who are this arrogant?”
“The Central Plains are already in decline. To the north, the Di tribes harass the borders. The imperial court can no longer manage everything.”
Huang Qi’s voice grew heavy.
“Jin City is still one of the better regions. Generally speaking, the people live in peace and contentment. But once you leave the Jin City region, you’ll see what true misery looks like.”
Li Lin fell silent.
He genuinely knew very little about conditions outside Jin City.
After all, this world did not possess anything like a network.
“That is also why that noble gentleman travels everywhere.”
Huang Qi smiled.
“He wants to restore the nation.”
“I truly hope that Brother Kunge will join us and help support a collapsing edifice.”
Li Lin shook his head slightly.
“We can discuss that later. Right now I only want to know one thing. Did the hundred-plus lives of that military town, and our eight fallen colleagues, die for nothing?”
“Of course not.”
Huang Qi laughed.
“My father is still the County Magistrate. Bobai Town falls under his jurisdiction. He will seek justice for those people.”
“What can we Spirit Hunters do?”
Li Lin simply could not swallow this anger.
Not only for his wrongfully slain colleagues.
But also for himself.
“In a few days, the Demon Suppression Bureau will send people down.”
With a Snap, Huang Qi opened his fan.
“They will rebuild the altar at Bobai Military Town and send another True Lord there to stand guard.”
“When that time comes, go along with them.”
“Something good will happen.”
They were going back to Bobai Town again?
Li Lin was not very willing.
Seeming to notice his reluctance, Huang Qi smiled and lowered his voice.
“There is a member of the Huang family within the Demon Suppression Bureau. If you want to learn Spirit Hunter spells, you can seek him out.”
After speaking, Huang Qi gave a light wink.
Li Lin did not become excited.
Instead, after a moment of silence, he asked,
“What must I give in return?”
Spells were even more precious than spirit-controlling cultivation methods.
In an era where even simple household tricks like the proper heat for frying tofu were passed from men to men rather than to women, and he was not anyone’s son, why would someone teach him?
There had to be a reason.